Maggie Frankino is planning to take her career on the road and in the sky as a traveling nurse.

“There are so many opportunities, opportunities abroad, and opportunities other than just a hospital setting,” Frankino said.

After graduation, the Whitefish High School senior, the daughter of Dan Frankino and Mindy Swan, plans to attend Montana State University in Bozeman to become a registered nurse.

What triggered her desire to major in nursing resulted from the time she spent in hospitals accompanying her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer when Frankino was a baby.

“The nurses and doctors would hang out with me and it was not such a scary experience,” Frankino said.

She later learned about travel nursing when she was a counselor last year at Camp-Mak-A-Dream, a facility east of Missoula that provides camping experiences for people affected by cancer. One of the camp’s medical staff was a traveling nurse.

“The agency she worked for sent her around the U.S.,” Frankino said.

That nurse also spent time in Uganda doing mission work at a nonprofit hospice Frankino said.

After college, Frankino wants to follow the same career path as the nurse who inspired her. Ideally, she wants to return to Camp-Mak-A-Dream as a head nurse and volunteer with nonprofits during the times camps aren’t in session. One organization she’s interested in volunteering for is Doctors Without Borders. 

Her volunteer work at the Shepherd’s Hand free community clinic and North Valley Hospital in Whitefish gave her an idea of what the experience might look like.

“It’s important that I give back,” she said.

Frankino has been a standout student at Whitefish High School, active in a wide array of extracurriculars including soccer, tennis, student council (student body secretary), National Honor Society and DECA. She also has taken piano lessons and is an avid skier and hiker. 

In addition to an interest in medicine, she always has been fascinated by other cultures and decided a career allowing her to travel would present opportunities to experience life abroad. Frankino eventually wants to work in South America.

Since she will need to be bilingual, Frankino plans to minor in Spanish. Whether abroad or in the U.S., “Spanish is such a fast-growing language,” she noted. 

Frankino is looking into specializing in oncology, pediatrics or combining the two by doing pediatric oncology nursing and eventually obtaining a master’s degree.

“I also thought maybe after I did travel nursing for awhile and settled down, I may go back to school and become a nurse practitioner,” Frankino said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com